2005 Players of the Week

2005 Rawlings CPL Offensive Player of the Year:

Mike Chambers (Franklin-Pierce University) Petersburg Generals
A junior from Franklin-Pierce and Londonderry, New Hampshire, Chambers was consistently among the CPL’s top hitters throughout the 2005 season. He started and played in 56 games for the Generals and ended up finishing with a league-best .337 batting average. Chambers also recorded league-bests in hits (64), doubles (15) and total bases (93).

In addition to those numbers, he also hit five home runs, and racked up 26 runs scored to go with 28 RBIs. Chambers finished second in slugging percentage at .497, while being walked 30 times and recording a .436 on-base percentage. He also added 13 stolen bases to his resume.

With the help of Chambers, Petersburg made it back to the Petitt Cup Tournament for the first time since 2003. The Generals, however, fell to the top-seeded Edenton Steamers, who went on to win the Petitt Cup Championship for the second year in-a-row. During week one of the CPL season, Chambers was also named the Rawlings Hitter of the Week.

Ryan Brandt (Methodist College) Fayetteville SwampDogsBrandt, a junior from Methodist College and Severna Park, Maryland, made a total of 13 appearances on the mound this summer, including 11 starts. One of those starts came during the 2005 CPL Petitt Cup Tournament over the weekend, where Brandt pitched through eight complete shutout innings, surrendering only five hits, while striking out 11 to earn the win in the SwampDogs’ first round game against Wilson. His effort for Fayetteville at the 2005 Petitt Cup earned him the honor of being named the Rawlings Defensive Player of the 2005 Petitt Cup Tournament as well.

Overall, Brandt, a 6-4, 220-pound righthander, finished the summer with an incredible 0.71 ERA to go along with an 8-2 record. In 75 2/3 innings pitched, he gave up only 10 runs, six earned, on 50 hits. Even more impressive, however, were his numbers in both walks and strikeouts. On the season, Brandt only walked 11 batters, while striking out 77, giving him a .142 walk-to-strikeout ratio.